LEWISTON – Eight new tenants were left homeless by a fire that heavily damaged a three-story apartment building at 178 Oak St. on Thursday.

No one was injured in the 10:30 a.m. blaze, which kept more than 50 Lewiston firefighters – with help from four neighboring departments – busy for four hours.

The fire was reported by Jason Lampert, the building’s maintenance man and son-in-law of the owner, Mike Reed.

Lampert said he was working in the building when he heard the fire alarms. He went to the third-floor apartment, knocked on the door and then entered.

“Something on the floor was on fire, and one of the walls,” he said. “I opened a window and called the fire department.”

Before he left the building, Lampert made sure all of the tenants were out.

Eric Lynes, the American Red Cross worker on the scene, said most of the tenants had moved in recently.

“Talk about the worst of luck,” he said. “One (tenant) said she just dropped her stuff off last night; hadn’t even slept in the building yet.”

Lynes said the Red Cross would provide the victims with money to buy food, clothing and up to three days of hotel rooms.

“It’s a chance for them to be in a safe, dry place,” he said. “These folks have lost everything. It’s just gutted.”

Lewiston fire Chief Paul Leclair agreed the damage was extensive. About an hour after firefighters arrived, water was pouring out of the third-floor window and huge puddles were filling the streets.

Buildings immediately surrounding the burning building were evacuated and streets in the neighborhood surrounding the fire scene were closed by Lewiston Public Works.

Gusts of wind pushed the billowing smoke throughout the neighborhood, at times blacking out the stretch of Oak Street in front of the building. Dozens of people lined the streets to watch the action.

“We contained the fire to the building, but there is lots of smoke, fire and water damage,” Leclair said.

Lampert said Reed had bought the building a few months ago and had been making repairs on it, including new coats of paint, new floors and blown insulation.

Jeff Burrell, a Lewiston police officer on the scene, said he was aware of the work being done by Reed.

“It’s too bad; he’s a landlord who cared,” Burrell said.

Ronda Guenette, a first-floor resident, stood across the street watching as her building burned.

“I heard the alarms, but I thought it was just the maintenance man,” she said. When he knocked on her door, she knew it was a real fire.

Firefighters said they initially thought they could control the fire from the inside but soon realized they would have to evacuate and attack it from the outside.

“I was in there,” said Carlos Ortiz, a Lewiston firefighter. “I thought we were doing something and I didn’t think it was that bad. But I only see one little piece and (the guys) outside see all of it.”

Several firefighters said the building was old, making it difficult to control the fire.

“There’s just so many spaces for the fire to go,” said Lewiston fire Capt. Larry Morin. He said the yellow smoke that was puffing from the building was due to sulfur. It was slightly toxic and the firefighters were taking proper precautions, he said.

Anyone interested in helping the victims by donating to the American Red Cross can call Laurie Levine at 795-4004 ext. 301.